Call to Worship with Psalm 1 - by Richard
One: Blessed are those who resist wicked advice Many: and follow the disrespectful crowd.
One: Instead, our delight is in following God’s Way Many: Following God’s Way, and studying it continually.
One: We are like trees-- Many: trees transplanted near flowing water,
One: thriving in every season, All: bearing fruit at the harvest.

No one is listening to this part of the show. There are a total of four articles about this passage on texteek. soon to be 5!

Bible Study

God’s Son

The relationship between Jesus and God cannot be questioned.

It is a full connection. Full integration.

Calling Jesus God’s Son is John’s favorite way of describing messiahship, Christness, or any other claim on Jesus’ identity.

Jesus’ life and ministry is the testimony of this relationship.

The testimony is the way that Jesus fully revealed God’s love, ultimately through “laying down one’s life for a friend.”

The way Jesus loved is the evidence of his Son-ness.

Testimony/Witness

Previously, it mentions the water and the blood. This is the baptism and death of Jesus, and presumably, everything in between.

Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection is the testimony we are to trust.

The true testimony for the believer is to live as Jesus lived.

“The testimony within,” is revealed in living as Jesus lived, and loving as Jesus loved.

Eternal Life

Present tense in verse 13 - “So you know you have eternal life.”

Not a future tense, but a present state.

Eternal life is not about duration of heartbeats, length of life, or even about life after our earthly death. Eternal life could be understood as “real life.”

If you believe, and witness to the fact that Jesus is God’s Son, then you will start to live “real life.”

Real life includes loving one another, not just surface relationships. Not just acquaintances, but friends.

To not have eternal life is to continue to go through the motions, waiting for some kind of meaning.

Sermon Thoughts and Questions:

How do we live eternal life? Is eternal life about what happens after death? How much is heaven a motivation for how we live? Is heaven a reward for living well, believing correctly, testifying truthfully, that we get after we die?

How do we explain this circular understanding:

God is love.

Jesus is God’s Son.

The testimony to this truth is the life that Jesus lived, including the water and the blood.

Jesus lived in Eternal Life, even in death.

We are called to believe that Jesus is God’s Son.

To believe is to have Eternal Life, even in death.

The testimony to this is love. It is a life that includes the water and the blood - the way Jesus lived and was willing to die for his friends.

Exclusive language of the passage makes it easy to say that those who believe in Jesus have life and those that don’t, don’t. This sort of claim can, at worst, lead to dehumanization of others that can justify oppression and atrocity. At best, it leads to a spiritual arrogance that eliminates possibility of learning from others. Verse 13 is important, this is written for those that already believe. It is a word of encouragement to those who are facing persecution, not a condemnation of non-believers. It is a reminder that they who believe are living “real life,” and should hold fast to that.

“While we can certainly understand thoughts like these when a community that feels threatened, we have to remember that taking Scriptures that were intended to address a specific situation and lifting them out of context to apply them to our day and time can be a risky venture. In a very real sense, it can enable the “oppressed” to become the “oppressors.” And in fact, you don’t have to work very hard to find all kinds of examples throughout the history of the church where that was exactly what happened—Christians took Scriptures like these and used them to justify all kinds of hateful and even violent acts against those deemed “other” and “outside.” (Allen Brehm, The Waking Dreamer)

The Lion and Lamb Festivalis seeking musicians and speakers. Already featuring friends of the show Heatherlyn and Sarah Renfro.Other participants can apply now. The Festival’s vision is to bring people together to inspire and be inspired by stories of peace, mercy, justice, and love. It is August 8, 2015 in the Quad Cities, Illinois.Feedback: